Tokyo cops: Man stole cigarettes for pachinko

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a 48-year-old male who stole cigarettes from more than 100 businesses in order to support a gambling habit, reports TBS News (Aug. 31).

In June, Koichiro Nishiyama used a crowbar to break a glass window of a shop in Chofu City. The suspect subsequently entered the premises and stole 55 cartons of cigarettes valued at 233,000 yen.

Since November of last year, the suspect is believed to have been behind more than 150 similar robberies in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures in which the value of lost property totals approximately 10 million yen.

“I used the money for pachinko and living expenses,” the suspect is quoted by police.